Date Honey Nut Cake

A few weeks ago, when I received a batch of organic dates from a kibbutz in Israel, I found myself wondering what to do with them. These sweet, luscious dates on the vine were perfect for snacking, but how else could I get creative with them? Date nut cake was an obvious choice, but I wanted to do something a little different. With Rosh Hashanah coming up, my mind wandered to honey cake. The thought of sweetening date nut cake with honey seemed like it would be totally delish.

Voila! The Date Honey Nut Cake was born. This tasty loaf cake is a unique take on a traditional Rosh Hashanah honey cake. Dates are actually a symbolic food for Rosh Hashanah, so it’s a great choice for the holiday. In Hebrew, a date is called a “tamar,” which is related to the word “tam” (meaning “to end”) and the word “sheyitamu” (meaning “to be consumed”). Dates are eaten in the hopes that our enemies will be consumed. They also happen to be naturally sweet, which is another good reason to eat them for Rosh Hashanah (as we hope for a sweet new year). And here’s another fun fact– biblical scholars believe that the honey repeatedly mentioned in the Torah likely came from dates (and other fruits), not bees. Yet another good reason to eat dates for Rosh Hashanah!

So, what better way to enjoy dates than in a sweet, delicious honey cake? The dates provide lots of moisture, which makes this a convenient make-ahead dessert—the cake will not dry out if you make it a day or two before the holiday begins. The walnuts add some nice texture and crunch. It’s naturally dairy free, but can be topped with cream cheese frosting for some extra decadence (if you’re not worried about keeping it pareve).

I hope this cake ends up on your holiday table. It will definitely be on mine. Yummy!

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OMG! this cake is delicious. If you like Charoset, you will like this cake. I had some pitted dates I needed to use and so I tripped this recipe and baked it in a bundt pan. I made a minor adjustment, and that is that I dusted the chopped dates with flour so they wouldn’t stick together and also so they would not drop to the bottom of the pan while baking which is what happens to chocolate chops when you add them to batter. This is common practice when adding chocolate chips to a cake batter (use a few tablespoons, enough to separate the chopped dates.) As with banana bread, I always sprinkle white sugar on the top of the batter once it’s in the cake pan. It caramelizes and crackles. The sweet crunchy texture makes the top of the cake even better!

I want to try this sounds yummy. Instead of honey , could I use molasses ,, if so how much , can hardly wait to taste ,. And I would like to use my conviction oven temp ?? And how long to bake ?? Here goes wish me luck

Hi I tried this recipe and its a delicious cake .. instead of honey I used date molasses and instead of nutmeg I added ground cardamom and grated orange rind .. my husband is Iraqi and he loves date sweets and this recipe is a keeper ! Thank you .. best regards 🙂

I made this for Rosh Hashanah this year. Having never liked honey cake and never having baked one before; I searched for something a bit different on the internet that included nuts. It was great! Everyone in the family loved it too. I think this is going to be a regular feature of our New Year now and I may be tempted to make it at other times too. Thank you for posting it.

Hi Emrah, the easiest glaze is to simply mix sifted powdered sugar with a little bit of water (start with 1 cup powdered sugar, 1-2 tbsp water) and mix together to form a drip-glaze. Add water starting with 1 tbsp, then add more, a tsp at a time, until the icing is thick, pourable and opaque/solid white in color. Drip the glaze over the cake as you see in this post: http://toriavey.com/toris-kitchen/2014/03/lemon-poppy-seed-cake/

Hi, I am a chef from a large retirement residence, I would like to know if I can use Splenda in this recipe. There are a lot of diabetic residents who would love this recipe but couldn’t have it because of the sugar content. Thanks so much!

Hi Karen, yes I believe there is a Splenda baking blend that you can use cup-for-cup to sweeten baked recipes. There are also similar stevia blends that are more natural. Most of them will have information on the packaging that will let you know how much to substitute.

I made this loaf/cake this morning and it turned out great! We have a ton of dates from my hubby’s last trip to Israel and this is a great way to use some of them. I will bake a few more loafs/cakes to give to our family and friends 🙂 The only thing I did different from the recipe was grate my nutmeg so I don’t think I used enough. The next one I will grate more in than the first.

I just whipped this together and it’s in the oven now! I have never EVER experienced an aroma like this… I’m salivating! And I don’t even like dates! I cannot wait to try this – I’m already convinced it is an excellent recipe.

This cake looks delicious! I’ll be doubling the recipe to make 2 loaves this Rosh Hashanah. I bought dates WITHOUT pits – do I still have to soak them in hot water? Thanks much in advance for a quick reply 🙂

Hey Tori… wonderful recipe. I used basic kitchen sugar, plain flour aka maida and almonds instead of the counterparts you have used and the result is brilliant. Thank you for this diary free recipe.. that’s what made it the winner…

Gosh! This turned out amazing! Loved it. I used all purpose flour. The cake is moist n overly sweet. It’s just perfect! Thanks for the recipe. My mom loves dates but this is the first time that I actually loved them.

I made this once and the outside seemed a little overdone. I made it again cooking a few minutes less and the cake fell apart. I think I will try to make it with all purpose flour instead of cake flour. If anyone has an suggestions please let me know. The flavors are wonderful so I want to get this right.

Hi Phyllis- that’s strange, so many readers have had a great result with this cake. I’m not sure what might be going wrong for you. You could try baking it at 300 degrees for 70-80 minutes till a toothpick comes out clean. Perhaps the cake flour you bought is creating too delicate a crumb, so as you said you might want to try all purpose. Hope your next try is successful!

Hi Ilana, you could try subbing an all-purpose gluten free flour substitute for the flour, like King Arthur. I’ve had pretty a good experience with subbing in this kind of recipe (easy cakes and quick breads), but I haven’t tried it in this particular recipe. If you try it will you let us know how it turns out?

Was given some lovely dates from Saudi Arabia, found your recipe for date walnut and honey cake. Made it straight away, thought it was the best cake ever. Made two more the next day. Thank you so much.

Ovens vary in temperature slightly, yours may run a bit warmer than mine. Try taking it out a little earlier next time, and make sure you bake it in the center of the oven (where you’ll get the most even heat throughout). Bake only until the tester comes out clean, no longer. Glad you liked it!

I made one for my neighbors next door and two loaves for my in-laws for Rosh HaShana. It was amazing. I made it again to have something after the fast. Again, truly amazing. My mother-in-law said she doesn’t like honey cake and hasn’t touched the one she bought from the store, but this one she loves. So thank you again! Your recipes are the best. Just FYI: I used all purpose flour (since I didn’t have cake flour) and I used coconut oil, since I don’t have vegetable oil.

I love this recipe! I have made it many times, mostly for Temple related events. I use the same base, but have made some variations. One popular one was to soak the dates overnight in Grand Marnier, and use pine nuts instead of walnuts (ran out of the latter, used what was in the pantry!) Great recipe, and can’t wait to try more from this site!

Do you know if I used Virgin Coconut Oil for the oil, would it be the same amount? I made this using canola and it was great! I like the idea of coconut oil since it is a “healthier” fat so-to-speak but I don’t want to over do it. Thanks! Shanah Tova!

Hi Amanda, not sure– I’ve never tried it with Coconut Oil, but it would probably work with the same amount (if you use it in melted form, of course). It may give the cake a slight coconut flavor, though. If you try it let us know how it worked for you! 🙂

I came across this site googling something completely unrelated and have been caught here for an hour now! I am not Jewish nor is anyone in my family, but my father is Egyptian and I grew up with a lot of Israeli friends. Cooking has always been something to overcome boundaries and connect all of them, my friends and family. And it shows how similar we all are; dates for instance are one of my dad’s fondest childhood memories. Raising a family of 11 (!), my grandparents must have been so thankful for these sweet little things. Dates, available everywhere and for everyone, basically made up for any snack the children had! Will definitely try this cake sometime!

Hi Sarah– I have never subbed applesauce in this cake, so I hesitate to say yes or no. I can tell you that generally speaking, when I sub applesauce in a baked recipe, I replace no more than half of the oil. Subbing all the oil, in my experience, can result in texture changes in the finished product. If you try it, please let me know how it works for you– I’m sure others might have the same question. 🙂

I have tried a few of your recipes, & they are all amazing, except for one, it was a blueberry cake, but it was from a book that was on your site, not your recipe, so unless it’s your recipe I will never use it! I’m still looking for a recipe for a poundcake my grandmother used to make, I’m hoping one day you will make a cake like hers! Keep up all the great cooking & baking!!! Thanks

hi,your site is adorable,i love it,sidebar about nuts that might interest you,lottsa things we do on rosh hashana are smbolic like the simanim on rosh hashana eve,its brought down in the code of jewish law a interesting custom (amongst orthodox and especially chasidim)not to eat walnuts(many dont eat any nuts)because its numerical value in the hebrew alphabet equals that of sin.hebrew egoz equals chet

Yesterday I needed a dairy free cake – a friend was shocked that I had not heard of your site as a foody – iPad in bed I went on it – wow got up and out of bed into the kitchen – if I have dates and nuts here goes …. Honey and date loaf. – well I did – easy to make and delicious to eat ..I am hooked

OMG, Tori! The moistness of this cake just jumps right out of the picture. I can’t wait to make it for Rosh Hashana. I will be making the Vanilla Pudding Kugel, too I want to make really sure that this New Year is nice and sweet! Thanks for the great recipes! My best to you and your family.

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. We were in Israel about a year ago at this time and brought back some date ‘honey’ with us. Our guide had told us the same thing about Biblical references to honey as you mentioned in your post. Anyway, I have been looking for a recipe for making date nut cake ever since I returned from my Israel trip, but couldn’t find anything that sounded good…until now! Perfect!

Tori this is fantastic. I love dates, I love honey and I love cake. So is perfect. Kudos on being creative. Love this one. I found the fact about the honey being thought to come from dates not bees really interesting. You’ve got a real winner here.

I have a tendency to shy away from regular fruit cake-too many add ins. I am picky when it comes to dried fruit, but the singular addition of dried dates is perfectly acceptable! This may become the new fruit cake for the family-thanks for sharing. It does look tasty.